‘Free’ is SpiralFrog’s Favorite 4-Letter Word

LOS ANGELES, September 6, 2006 (PodTech News) â€” For the second time in as many weeks, SpiralFrog, the new ad-supported online music service debuting in beta in December, announced an agreement with a major music label. This time, it’s with British-owned EMI Group, PLC. The free-to-consumer service differs significantly from the pay-per-download service championed by iTunes by being entirely funded from advertising, with ad revenues shared among the labels. Just last week, SpiralFrog and Universal Music Group entered into a similar agreement. Lance Ford is SpiralFrog’s chief sales and marketing officer. He spoke with PodTech’s Matt Kelly.

Reporter’s Notes: My thanks to Lance Ford for speaking with me today, despite being swamped with media calls ever since the Universal announcement last week. There’s another interesting angle to this story in that Vivendi, Universal Music Group’s parent company, just bought BMG Publishing for more than $2 billion. With it, came the rights to music by Coldplay and Christina Aguilera, among others. How the catalog will impact SpiralFrog’s music selection remains to be seen, as does the impact this will have on iTunes? Personally, I like free, even if I have to sit through a few ads for it. Oh, and watch for more partnership agreements to come from SpiralFrog in the coming days.

â€” Matt Kelly

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